Director of Photography Department of Huayu

Chapter 93 I just need to keep moving forward and the world will remember my name
Beijing News: Wu Chen arrives in Berlin with "Buried Alive," confidently vying for the Berlin Grand Prix with Gu Changwei!

Southern Metropolis Daily: [Wu Chen is confident about Buried Alive, and Gu Changwei says he'll do well in Berlin this year!]

Entertainment Live: [Wu Chen's "Buried" is about to premiere. Can the emerging domestic director create another miracle and compete on the international stage again?]

On the eve of the opening of the Berlin Film Festival, Wu Chen arrived in Berlin with "Buried", and domestic media focused on the appearance of this new generation of Chinese-language film directors.

The news headline caused quite a stir in the Berlin special pages in China.

Under the brilliant light of the Berlin Film Festival, Wu Chen and Gu Changwei, who were also shortlisted for the main competition unit;
Coupled with the previous bet between Wu Chen and Feng Xiaogang, this has also led to the fact that this year's Berlin Film Festival has been very popular in China.

The media reported on it one after another, which was considered a warm-up before the opening of the Berlin Film Festival.

The next morning, in Berlin, the cold wind blew snowflakes on my face, like needles pricking me.

Wu Chen, wrapped in a coat, came out of the Film Palace with Christian Bale and Jason Blum. After visiting the theater last night, the three of them found a street cafe to rest.

Wu Chen took a sip of black coffee, lowered his head, and sipped it. The tip of his tongue shrank from the heat, and he turned to look at Jason: "Jason, I have a new script in hand. I'll send it to you later. Please help me estimate the production cost and take it to the market to test the market.

Is there any company willing to invest? If so, how much investment share can I get if I direct it?

Due to the script of "Black Swan", Wu Chen has not found anyone to register during the Chinese New Year, and there is no way to communicate with Jason now.

He didn't want to test human nature.

Betting on human nature is the stupidest gambler.

Even if the relationship between two people seems quite good, if the interests are too great, this relationship may become as fragile as a piece of paper.

Jason put down his coffee cup and looked at Wu Chen, confusion flashing in his eyes: "Oh? A new script? Why don't we just develop it?"

As if he had thought of something, he narrowed his eyes and said, "Wu, are you testing your own value in Hollywood?"

Wu Chen was stunned. These businessmen were really quick-witted.

“Jason, you’re pretty smart, you could say that.

Of course, if my new script is to be filmed, the investment would be quite high, and we can't afford it right now. Please help me ask around, it won't be a problem."

Jason nodded thoughtfully. "You can try Fox Searchlight and Paramount. I'll check them out for you first."

Wu Chen was slightly stunned. He could understand Fox Searchlight, after all, it was a Fox subsidiary that specialized in independent films.

But he couldn't understand Paramount, one of the seven major Hollywood companies.

"Paramount? What made you think of that?"

Jason smiled, picked up his coffee and took a sip: "It's simple, I noticed a piece of news, you probably didn't notice it.

A while ago, Paramount just signed a $200 million contract with your country's young screenwriter, Xie Hang, who is studying directing at the School of Film and Television Performance at the University of Auckland, to buy out three of his scripts.

Wu Chen raised his eyebrows slightly. This fee was not low. If it were in China, it would be considered a sky-high screenwriter fee.

Jason shrugged. "The American film industry is actually puzzled by Paramount's emphasis on a 'Chinese screenwriter' in his early twenties. But I think their real goal may not be the script, but the Chinese market."

He paused and continued:
"Paramount has been increasing its investment in the Asian market over the years. They have built their own film bases in India and Japan, and they naturally cannot miss out on the huge Chinese market.

So, if you are testing the waters, I think there is a high probability that they will invest in you.

But then again, given your current situation, Paramount will most likely only give you a 20% investment share at most, let alone a director's share. Of course, Fox Searchlight might be a bit more generous, but it probably won't exceed 30%.

Wu Chen smiled faintly and didn't care: "Well, let me ask first."

Anyway, he just threw out the hook of "Black Swan". As for what big fish can be caught in the future, we will talk about it later.

In the evening, the Berlin Film Festival finally opened.

On a winter night, the cold wind howled on both sides of the red carpet.

The opening ceremony of the Berlin Film Festival was star-studded, with European filmmakers, Hollywood stars, and media from all over the world gathering together.

At the Berlin Film Palace on Potsdam Square, a huge bear paw logo hangs high above the main entrance, symbolizing the glory of the film festival.

The lights flickered, and stars in gorgeous costumes slowly walked into the venue on the red carpet.

Wu Chen, Christian Bale and Jason Blum waved to the crowd on the red carpet.

Although there were no female stars in the crew, the photographer's flash did not spare them.

"Wu, do you remember me, in Sitges?"

A reporter shouted while fiddling with the camera.

"Of course, thank you very much for remembering me." Wu Chen smiled at him.

"It's your strength that makes us remember you."

There seemed to be quite a few media outlets still inside the stadium who had been to Sitges back then, and someone else called out, "Wu, did you think of this day when you were in Sitges?"

Jason Blum felt a little emotional when he saw this scene. When he first went to find Wu Chen, the other party was just a rookie. He didn't expect that in just a few months, the situation would become like this.

"I didn't expect it, but I knew that I just had to keep moving forward, and the world would remember my name."

Christian Bale exclaimed in amazement: "Wu, please teach me next time. I always find your answers full of charm."

"Hahaha"

The domestic media were surprised to see this scene.

The material came so smoothly, that’s the selling point.

"I didn't expect Director Wu to be so well-known around the world!"

"After all, he came from Sitges and went to Hollywood, so his exposure is much higher than most domestic directors."

"Look, the crew of Peacock is here, let's see how it compares."

Gu Changwei walked onto the red carpet from the other side with the crew of "Peacock". Zhang Jingchu held his hand, wrapped in a dark blue long dress, not afraid of the cold weather in Berlin at all, with a proud smile on her face, like the protagonist walking on the red carpet.

Lu Yulai, Feng Li and others followed one step slower and kept a proper distance.

The flash lights came on. After all, it was a film in the main competition unit, and the reporters did not miss it.

But apart from domestic reporters who called out "Director Gu" and "Ms. Zhang", most foreign media just took a few photos symbolically, and no one actually called out their names.

This subtle gap caused a lot of discussion among domestic media -

"The response to 'Peacock' isn't as good as 'Buried Alive'."

"Foreign journalists don't recognize people. Wu Chen has been in Sitges and Hollywood, so his exposure is much higher."

"Director Gu has a lot of experience, but his name recognition is a bit low, and Zhang Jingchu hasn't been able to help him."

Zhang Jingchu held Gu Changwei's hand and smiled proudly at first, but when she saw that there were only Chinese shouts just now, she felt a little uncomfortable.

I couldn't help but murmur: "Why is the gap so big?"

Gu Changwei didn't seem to have such a feeling. He knew very well that he had only accompanied Zhang Yi to the Berlin Expo that year. This was a completely new battlefield for him, so it was normal that no one recognized him.

Gu Changwei led the crew to Wu Chen, extended his hand, and greeted everyone with a smile.

"Senior Brother." Wu Chen extended his hand back, took a look, and casually asked, "Where's Sister Wenli? Why didn't you walk the red carpet with us?"

Gu Changwei's smile froze for a moment, then he smiled awkwardly: "She was feeling a little unwell, so she didn't come."

Upon hearing this, Wu Chen glanced at Zhang Jingchu and instantly understood.

In the opening ceremony hall, the warm air was blowing and the aroma of coffee mixed with the smell of toast was wafting in the air.

The seats were packed with people, and filmmakers from all over the world were chatting animatedly, making the air buzz with voices.

On the stage, the screen lit up "55th Berlinale" and the jury president, Roland Emmerich, came up in a black suit and spoke in a deep voice:

“Welcome to Berlin. This year’s film festival will be a cinematic journey.”

He finished speaking briefly, and applause broke out, like raindrops hitting the window.

The opening film, "From Man to Man," began. The camera was as slow as an old ox pulling a cart. Wu Chen watched and muttered softly, "This pace makes me fall asleep."

Bale was amused: "European films are like this. This is the first 'pure' European film to appear at the Berlin Film Festival in the past four years. You'll get used to it."

"Once they see our film, they'll probably find it refreshing." Jason leaned back in his chair, looking lazy.

Wu Chen's scalp tingled after watching this movie.

The story goes that British anthropologists in the Victorian era went to the African jungle to capture a dwarf couple, trying to prove that they were the "missing link" in the evolution from apes to humans.

It is easy to guess that after all the twists and turns, conscience will eventually triumph over utilitarianism, but it is bound to shock the audience at the cost of life and criticize the "civilization" that Westerners have claimed in history.

The film was so "classical" that a reporter naturally asked the director directly at the press conference:
"How did you come up with the idea of ​​adapting the novel into a movie?"

The silly question achieves an unexpected comedic effect because it has no original work at all and is born as a movie script.

Wu Chen and the others couldn't help but laugh out loud.

The director seemed a little embarrassed. "This is the only way I can understand your question—you think it's very literary."

The film ended and the opening ceremony ended.

During these two days, Wu Chen and the other two did not go anywhere else, but just wandered around the Cinema Palace.

Because the premiere of "Buried" is scheduled for the third day
(End of this chapter)